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Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 8:55am
9 replies211 views5 members subscribed
Flaviavickers

Posts: 4

Location: Elda

Joined: 8 Apr 2022

Good morning everyone 

My husband and I are looking houses to buy in Elda. How is the life there after the covid? We saw few apartments near Plaza Mayor, good prices, is there a good place? We are thinking to retire soon and live in a real Spanish town. Advices are more than welcome. Thank you 

Cheryl

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 12:31pm

Cheryl

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2973

3533 helpful points

Location: Albatera

Joined: 8 Jun 2017

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 12:31pm

Good morning both.
When we were looking for areas to move to, all we had decided on was Costa Blanca South and a country villa, we didn't narrow down to a particular town until we had visited. We looked at various towns and Albatera just felt right for us.
The biggest shock when we moved was how cold Spanish houses are in winter as generally they are of single skin construction with little or no insulation and poorly performing windows. If you get an F rating, you will be lucky! Elda is about 400m above sea level and believe me, you will feel it. The subject comes up again and again every winter. Damp is also an issue as DPC is not used.
Living in a Spanish town, if you don't speak Spanish, you could struggle and will almost certainly need an interpreter for medical appointments which can be quite embarrassing at times. I can get by most of the time reading Spanish and I've picked up quite a bit but once I've asked my question in Spanish, I'm lost when they answer. I'm lucky if I can pick up the odd word here or there. That said, we are still here and still loving it but it has not all been plain sailing.
Find yourselves a gestor to help you with officialdom, they will be much cheaper than a solicitor.
The general advice is to rent before you buy so you have time to adapt to living here rather than being a tourist. Buying is expensive and if you don't get it right first time there will be even more expense and it could take months to sell.
Never use the solicitor recommended by the estate agent and don't give any deposit to them, it needs to go to your own independent solicitor.
Always thoroughly check the property you want to buy before you put down a deposit. Get everything turned on to check they work and don't leak. How many sockets are there? Ours had one per room but then we bought a renovation project.
Check the deeds exactly match the property paying particular attention to anything that looks as if it may have been added or open areas enclosed, if it is not on the deeds then the vendor has to sort this out at their own expense.
Take everything the agent says with a pinch of salt and double check it yourselves as nothing is a problem in their world.
It is an exciting time but don't go falling in love with something online before you have visited an area.

Don't ever worry about asking questions on here but if you put "everything" and Elda into the search bar, there is not much activity on the local forum.

Flaviavickers

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 12:58pm

Flaviavickers

Original Poster

Posts: 4

Location: Elda

Joined: 8 Apr 2022

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 12:58pm

Cheryl wrote on Fri Apr 8, 2022 12:31pm:

Good morning both.
When we were looking for areas to move to, all we had decided on was Costa Blanca South and a country villa, we didn't narrow down to a particular town until we had visited. We looked at various towns and Albatera just felt right for us.
The biggest shock when we moved wa...

...s how cold Spanish houses are in winter as generally they are of single skin construction with little or no insulation and poorly performing windows. If you get an F rating, you will be lucky! Elda is about 400m above sea level and believe me, you will feel it. The subject comes up again and again every winter. Damp is also an issue as DPC is not used.
Living in a Spanish town, if you don't speak Spanish, you could struggle and will almost certainly need an interpreter for medical appointments which can be quite embarrassing at times. I can get by most of the time reading Spanish and I've picked up quite a bit but once I've asked my question in Spanish, I'm lost when they answer. I'm lucky if I can pick up the odd word here or there. That said, we are still here and still loving it but it has not all been plain sailing.
Find yourselves a gestor to help you with officialdom, they will be much cheaper than a solicitor.
The general advice is to rent before you buy so you have time to adapt to living here rather than being a tourist. Buying is expensive and if you don't get it right first time there will be even more expense and it could take months to sell.
Never use the solicitor recommended by the estate agent and don't give any deposit to them, it needs to go to your own independent solicitor.
Always thoroughly check the property you want to buy before you put down a deposit. Get everything turned on to check they work and don't leak. How many sockets are there? Ours had one per room but then we bought a renovation project.
Check the deeds exactly match the property paying particular attention to anything that looks as if it may have been added or open areas enclosed, if it is not on the deeds then the vendor has to sort this out at their own expense.
Take everything the agent says with a pinch of salt and double check it yourselves as nothing is a problem in their world.
It is an exciting time but don't go falling in love with something online before you have visited an area.

Don't ever worry about asking questions on here but if you put "everything" and Elda into the search bar, there is not much activity on the local forum.

Hi Cheryl.

Thank you so much for all tips! We have been looking few houses since last year, we like Alicante area, Los Alcazares and San Pedro are our favourites but before to buy I want to see more places and we will be there in the end of April to feel the area. We really liked there and all your advices were great. Spanish is not a problem for me as I speak Portuguese, Spanish for me is familiar. I can understand and speak enough to learn more when we move. We will take all your advices, again thank you 😊 

Rob60

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 11:25pm

Rob60

Helpful member

Posts: 243

316 helpful points

Location: Ontinyent

Joined: 12 Mar 2022

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 11:25pm

Cheryl wrote on Fri Apr 8, 2022 12:31pm:

Good morning both.
When we were looking for areas to move to, all we had decided on was Costa Blanca South and a country villa, we didn't narrow down to a particular town until we had visited. We looked at various towns and Albatera just felt right for us.
The biggest shock when we moved wa...

...s how cold Spanish houses are in winter as generally they are of single skin construction with little or no insulation and poorly performing windows. If you get an F rating, you will be lucky! Elda is about 400m above sea level and believe me, you will feel it. The subject comes up again and again every winter. Damp is also an issue as DPC is not used.
Living in a Spanish town, if you don't speak Spanish, you could struggle and will almost certainly need an interpreter for medical appointments which can be quite embarrassing at times. I can get by most of the time reading Spanish and I've picked up quite a bit but once I've asked my question in Spanish, I'm lost when they answer. I'm lucky if I can pick up the odd word here or there. That said, we are still here and still loving it but it has not all been plain sailing.
Find yourselves a gestor to help you with officialdom, they will be much cheaper than a solicitor.
The general advice is to rent before you buy so you have time to adapt to living here rather than being a tourist. Buying is expensive and if you don't get it right first time there will be even more expense and it could take months to sell.
Never use the solicitor recommended by the estate agent and don't give any deposit to them, it needs to go to your own independent solicitor.
Always thoroughly check the property you want to buy before you put down a deposit. Get everything turned on to check they work and don't leak. How many sockets are there? Ours had one per room but then we bought a renovation project.
Check the deeds exactly match the property paying particular attention to anything that looks as if it may have been added or open areas enclosed, if it is not on the deeds then the vendor has to sort this out at their own expense.
Take everything the agent says with a pinch of salt and double check it yourselves as nothing is a problem in their world.
It is an exciting time but don't go falling in love with something online before you have visited an area.

Don't ever worry about asking questions on here but if you put "everything" and Elda into the search bar, there is not much activity on the local forum.

Excellent comprehensive advice. 

Can I just add a balanced opinion on one point though. I have read many posts saying NEVER use a lawyer recommended by the estate agent.

We used the services of the lawyers that our estate agents recommended and they were professional and thorough with our purchase with great communication throughout.

The same lawyer has handled our residencia applications, driving licence exchanges and even disputes with our neighbours since our initial purchase.

I am not saying anyone should automatically go with a recommendation from the estate agent but don't tar everyone with the same brush. There are good and bad in every profession, but as with everything else, do your due diligence.

Cheryl

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 11:49pm

Cheryl

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2973

3533 helpful points

Location: Albatera

Joined: 8 Jun 2017

Posted: Fri Apr 8, 2022 11:49pm

Rob60 wrote on Fri Apr 8, 2022 11:25pm:

Excellent comprehensive advice. 

Can I just add a balanced opinion on one point though. I have read many posts saying NEVER use a lawyer recommended by the estate agent.

We used the services of the lawyers that our estate agents recommended and they were professional and thorough with our purchase with great communication throughout.

The same lawyer has handled our residencia applications, driving licence exchanges and even disputes with our neighbours since our initial purchase.

I am not saying anyone should automatically go with a recommendation from the estate agent but don't tar everyone with the same brush. There are good and bad in every profession, but as with everything else, do your due diligence.

https://www.google.com/search?https://www.google.com/search?q=why+you+should+never+use+the+solicitor+recommended+by+the+estate+agent+in+spain&rlz=1C1CHBF_enES811ES811&oq=why+you+should+never+use+the+solicitor+recommended+by+the+estate+agent+in+spain&aqs=chrome..69i57.20515j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 

Far too much evidence to the contrary in my book but happy that things seem to have gone well for you.

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Flaviavickers

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 9:42am

Flaviavickers

Original Poster

Posts: 4

Location: Elda

Joined: 8 Apr 2022

paulsav

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:42am

paulsav

Super helpful member

Posts: 1366

1009 helpful points

Location: Villena

Joined: 4 Dec 2015

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:42am

Rob60 wrote on Fri Apr 8, 2022 11:25pm:

Excellent comprehensive advice. 

Can I just add a balanced opinion on one point though. I have read many posts saying NEVER use a lawyer recommended by the estate agent.

We used the services of the lawyers that our estate agents recommended and they were professional and thorough with our purchase with great communication throughout.

The same lawyer has handled our residencia applications, driving licence exchanges and even disputes with our neighbours since our initial purchase.

I am not saying anyone should automatically go with a recommendation from the estate agent but don't tar everyone with the same brush. There are good and bad in every profession, but as with everything else, do your due diligence.

Sorry Rob,, I totally agree with Cheryl, NEVER use the same solicitor recommended by the estate agent as we have experienced to our cost. Not all are bad I agree, but why take the chance, in the least there is definitely a conflict of interest. No guarantee the solicitor is acting on your behalf solely when he is great friends with the agent. You have been a lucky one but not us. Our property is 80 sq mts more than on deeds, (we didn't view with a tape measure in our hands! ) we now have to pay to rectify, our property was 50ft from the new AVI trainline of which excavation started 1 month after purchase and now we have lost land, views, privacy and value. We weren't told our property was next door to the local basura and the stink on 3 nights a week is horrendous forcing us to keep all our windows shut. I don't doubt that all of these issues would have been highlighted if we had used our own solicitor. 

Regards 

Pauline 

tebo53

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:53am

tebo53

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 4779

4962 helpful points

Location: Benidorm

Joined: 29 May 2018

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:53am

Flaviavickers wrote on Fri Apr 8, 2022 8:55am:

Good morning everyone 

My husband and I are looking houses to buy in Elda. How is the life there after the covid? We saw few apartments near Plaza Mayor, good prices, is there a good place? We are thinking to retire soon and live in a real Spanish town. Advices are more than welcome. Thank you ...

...

Hi,

I agree with all the excellent advice given by the other posters.

If, as you mentioned, you are planning to retire to Spain then make sure, and do plenty of homework about the non lucrative visa requirements. You will need to apply for the NLV at the Spanish consulate in the UK. 

There are income and healthcare requirements needed to secure the visa which will be required over the first five years to get your TIE residency card. 

Steve  

Flaviavickers

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:57am

Flaviavickers

Original Poster

Posts: 4

Location: Elda

Joined: 8 Apr 2022

Posted: Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:57am

tebo53 wrote on Sat Apr 9, 2022 10:53am:

Hi,

I agree with all the excellent advice given by the other posters.

If, as you mentioned, you are planning to retire to Spain then make sure, and do plenty of homework about the non lucrative visa requirements. You will need to apply for the NLV at the Spanish consulate in the UK. 

There are income and healthcare requirements needed to secure the visa which will be required over the first five years to get your TIE residency card. 

Steve  

I will check it! Thank you  Steve

Golandrina

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:23am

Golandrina

Super helpful member

Posts: 1633

1209 helpful points

Location: Almoradí

Joined: 24 Mar 2018

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:23am

A couple of sites to keep an eye on are as follows:

N332 for anything to do with driving in Spain.   The website, and their Facebook page, is run in collaboration with officers of the Guardia Civil for English speaking people and has an English version of the Spanish equivalent of the Highway Code.

Citizens Advice Bureau Spain for bureaucratic stuff (and there can be quite a lot of that).

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Car Key Solutions
Thy Will Be Done
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Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
interior building work
Airport Service Taxi Mil Palmeras  Torre de la Horadada
Costa Blanca Building Specialists
Blacktower Financial Management
James Spanish School
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